Tribeca Film Festival, Fernanda Tovar director interview

Fernanda Tovar brings Sad Girlz to the Tribeca Film Festival, a poignant coming-of-age story tracking the teenage friendship between two athletes, the traumatic aftermath of an unwanted experience, and its ripple effects on their bond. What was the creative spark that compelled you to turn this story into a feature film?

I guess it was a very long process. At the beginning, it was a personal story that was the first spark or idea to write about something like that. But, along the way, there were many other little seeds and sparks that nurtured the film along the way. It started out as only writing and then, after I won a scholarship in Mexico to write an actual script, the idea of turning it into an actual feature film became a reality. 

Sad Girlz boasts a highly distinctive aesthetic and visual identity. How did your personal artistic vision intertwine with the collective input of your team when building the look of the film?

This development happened very naturally. Initially, I felt the film was purely mine, rooted in my own thoughts and experiences. However, as my collaborators joined the project, each one enriched the film in ways I never expected. My initial vision served as the foundation and a compass for our collective decision-making process.

The film deeply explores vulnerability, rage, and the drive for self-determination. Which aspects of the contemporary female experience were you most keen to bring to the forefront?

The most important thing for me was to portray this kind of story in the most loving and tender way possible. That said, I guess it was more about empathy, friendship, and solidarity. However, rage and sadness were important part of the female depiction in the film. 

How did you balance the screenwriting, directing, and aesthetic choices to maintain structural cohesion without losing the raw spontaneity of the performances?

Paradoxically, all that planning — having a clear, concrete vision of the film — is precisely what freed us to improvise, to change things every day, to leave room for life to surprise us. The screenplay and aesthetic choices were made in pre-production. The spontaneity happened on set.

Sad Girlz resonates strongly with a generation navigating the tension between fragility and resilience. What kind of emotional impact do you hope the film leaves on its audience?

I hope it leaves people with questions, and with that specific desire to be close to their friends, a renewed sense of just how precious and irreplaceable those bonds are.

Who is Fernanda Tovar outside of the director's chair, and which filmmakers have served as your primary inspirations?

I guess the same person as I am in the director's chair. I felt very comfortable during the shooting of the film and was surrounded by my friends and people I love so I felt quite comfortable to be around them and be myself. My life outside set is quite boring compared to the weeks of shooting. Some big inspirations are Lucrecia Martel, Celine Sciamma and Andrea Arnold. 

Are there any future projects currently in development that you can share a few details about?

I am starting again, I don't know how long it will take, but I enjoyed so much the process of doing a film that I want to do it again and see where life takes us this time!